Getting to know Bribri Culture and fighting a giant Snake

Schiff: Johnny
Position: Costa Rica – Bambu (with the Bribri)
ETMAL: 0
Date: 26.01.25
Total Distance: 6769 nm

The day started as usual with a traditional „Pinto“ breakfast. After that, we made ourselves ready for the jungle again, which later proved to be time well spent. Our „bus“ for the day was a small cargo truck, which brought us to the river. We crossed that river in a small boat and then continued in another truck.

After a long ride, we finally arrived at our destination, a small Bribri village. There, an elder explained some things about the village and we were able to try a traditional method of milling things like corn, coffee or cocoa and to explore the village on our own, looking at all the different kinds of animals living there.

At the end, we received a cooked banana served in a banana leaf and hot chocolate in a tree seed, which was very tasty and interesting. The corn we milled later ended as food for a flock of geese, which seemed very happy with our work.

After that, we continued in our ride to visit a traditional Bribri healer. We entered a big hut and someone explained the Bribri religion to us. We enjoyed listening to him, soaking in the atmosphere in the hut. Then we did a traditional dance, where all the boys stand in a circle in the middle, grabbing each other on the shoulders, while the girls join by hooking themselves between the boys.

Afterwards, we were surprised with an interesting task: A 12-meter-long wooden snake, that was standing nearby, needed to be carried to our village. We started by lifting the snake up from the ground and carrying it to the truck, where we loaded it onto the 5-meter-long loading area, while the tail was hanging out.

Like that, we drove back to the river again, where we loaded the snake onto one of the boats. We also went into boats and started, drinking the coconuts we received as thanks, to drive down the river to the beach at the village of Bambu, which is near to our home.

There, we unloaded the snake again and carried it all the way up to our home, passing through several muddy patches and puddles. This was very exhausting, and we were all happy when we finally arrived and lunch was already waiting for us.

Afterwards, we had free time again to relax, sleep and explore the surrounding area.

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